@WorthingRaiders Academy @WorthingCollege 22 BHASVIC 17

The Blues made the familiar trip to BHASVIC on Wednesday to play the AoC SE League match on the back of a strong win the previous week against Sussex Downs in the National Cup.

The Blues started much the stronger and went into a 15-0 lead as the home side struggled to live with the physicality and game management of the visitors. Garrett was setting the tempo behind strong carries and solid set piece work by the forwards. This allowing the midfield to make metres after the tackle.

Worthing were guilty of not making best use of the territorial advantage as BHASVIC were determined in defence, even when they went down to 13 players. The visitors were unable to make this numerical advantage count and this kept BHASVIC well and truly in the game.

BHASVIC staged a come back of sorts bringing the game to 15-10 with 30mins to play. The Blues knocked but still standing, were able to control the rest of the encounter to an extent. Plenty of centre field encounters ensued with both teams building pressure then somehow releasing the valve to keep the contest on a knife edge.

Worthing eventually broke the game with a pick up from Mouland that made it 22-10 and even with the converted try for BHASVIC towards the end of the game it was Worthing 22-17 BHASVIC.

The Blues were happy with the win if not totally enamoured with the performance. Coach Alex Wolfe said “We played well in parts and when we concentrated on just being accurate the team looked good. Unfortunately there were mistakes, but that is going to happen in any game. We reacted better to them this week than we did a couple of weeks ago against Collyers.” He went on to say “We’re learning ever session and improvements are evident across the field throughout the squad.”

When questioned on what he thought would be a realistic goal for the competition, Lead Coach Ben Coulson added “We want to progress in every session, just be a little better each time we work. Everyone has a responsibility to strive for improvement and I’m incredibly pleased with the attitude shown so far by this group. They’re proving to be enthusiastic and are on incredibly steep learning curve!”